Ches 20

Ches 20, 1370:
    High = 32, Low = 10
    No precipitation
    Wind gusting to 11 mph from the south.
    Overcast.

    The party made it to Waterdeep before dark without encounters.
    Gulkker greeted them when they got to Fair Winds, pointed out a
    ton of mail, and then headed off to send word to The Council of
    Four that AFAL was back in town and would again need vampiric
    protection.

    Mail consisted of (in reverse order of arrival)
      * A note from the other creator of the Wind Chimes - he/she
        wants them back.  If AFAL will quietly sell them back (through
        an agent), he/she won't have to come "deal with this matter in
        person".

      * A package from the Silent Travelers, hinting that they are no
        longer dead and that the giant that the party left eating them
        is.  ("OK, now it's personal.")

      * Midwinter gifts from Arcturagana, all very thoughtful:

        - Darius got a small keg of smoke powder.  He put it
          (carefully) in the smuggler's cave.

        - Denyae got the head of her former party's thief, along with
          a large spider which was probably poisonous when it was
          alive.

        - Dexter got a bottle of (rare and expensive) drowvish Umber
          Hulk Liquer, which the party promptly confiscated from
          him. 

        - Henkles got a scourge made from finger bones.

        - Maanamere got a scroll case filled with documents (see below).

        - Jan/Misery jones got a fancy belt that was made from what
          may or may not have been human skin with studs and tassles
          in blonde, brunette and red.

        - Mrap-M'rap got a breeding pair of Duergar Homing Bats
          (according to the care instructions), long since dead of
          starvation.

        - Stalker got a pair of bottles of interesting and nasty poisons.

        - Moogh got boots, a loincloth, 2 collars and 2 leashes, all
          made from what appeared to be salamander hide.

        - Steve got a finely carved recorder made from a single large
          bone.  He did not try it out.

        - Theo got an early draft of The Cyrinishad.  Did
          Theo or the party burn this, or did greed and/or respect for
          rare books win out?

        - Ursula got a gift certificate for Advanced Top Training at
          Mother Tathlorn's House of Pleasure and Healing.

    Darius examined the documents that Maanamere was given at some
    length, then reported to the party that Maanamere was the captain
    of a ship, called The Star Chaser†, which was apparently of recent
    Whaterdhavian registry (previously of Skullport and Baldur's
    Gate).  The ship seemed to currently be harbored in Waterdeep with
    the harbor fees paid through Greengrass.  The paperwork further
    indicated that she had 2 mates, a gunner and a crew of 43 sailors.
    The records showed that the officers had been paid through the
    first of Ches (and were now owed back wages of 3ep, 2ep and 2ep,
    respectively, per week, since then).  The pay records for the
    sailors were nowhere to be found.  Finally there were records that
    basic supplies had been taken on since arriving in Waterdeep, but,
    oddly, no records of provisions being taken on.

    † The Star Chaser was also the name on the ship-in-a-bottle that
      Arcturagana gave to Maanamere on the second day of Hammer.